"Be holy as I am holy"

This is Holy Week... This is when Christians remember the week of Jesus' road to Calvary, His crucifixion, and His glorious ascension. He lives!! As a Spirit-filled Christian, I celebrate it every day of every year! He took my punishment for me, and I didn't deserve it and neither did anyone else. But He did it anyway. It's the Gospel - the Good news - that Jesus died on the cross and rose again. He is triumphant over death, for Himself and all who accept His gift of salvation - saving us. All of the others that are worshipped are still in the grave. All others are buried in graves except Jesus! He truly is the son of God. And He's STILL alive, He still sends His Holy Spirit to live in Christians to do what He did when He was on earth... healings, deliverances, and leads to salvation.

In the Old Testament in the Jewish faith (God's chosen ones) God has days that He wants His children to remember the great things He has done. He commanded His children to commemorate Passover, and Jesus did as well. And so, we also remember when He became the sacrificial lamb, and was the ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices that Jews had always done. Yes, it's the most important week of remembering, and we shouldn't take it lightly or flippantly. And yes, it was 2,000 years ago, but He is still here TODAY. He sent His comforter, the Holy Spirit, who is here with the same mission. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His miracles are as much for today as they were 2,000 years ago.

God says in His word, "Be holy as I am holy."

Yes, Lord....

The Real Deal

Rev. Dennis Bennett was an Episcopal priest who is known as the father of the modern charismatic movement. In 1960, he was praying with two friends, and Jesus baptized him in the Holy Spirit.He relays the story that he had done research about it, and the two friends he was with simply told him what had happened to them, and then prayed with him. His church at that time in Van Nuys, California then asked him to resign. He moved to another episcopal church in Seattle for 20 more years.

Rev. Bennett says, "I believe the baptism in the Holy Spirit to be the drivetrain by which the power of the Spirit travels from the engine to the wheels. Evangelism starts the engine, but without the drivetrain, the people of God do not move very far, and soon begin to wonder when Jesus is going to come and take them away from a world they obviously are unequipped to cope with!

Acts 8:14-17 clearly tells how Peter and John prayed with the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit after their conversion and baptism with water through Phillip the evangelist. Jesus made receiving the baptism in the Spirit mandatory -- and for a very good reason, since it is what makes the power of God available through the individual believer to the needy world."

He adds that in those early days in Van Nuys, he experienced what it was like to be early Christians, both from the excitement of discovering how real it all was and finding out how quickly one could become unpopular! He said they found out for themselves why people in the first century were willing to risk their lives to belong to the fellowship of Jesus of Nazareth. He didn't risk his life but said he did risk his reputation, job and friends. He saw the amazing fellowship and love that the people were drawn together after they had been set free in the Spirit.

He says, and I agree, that the church is not primarily a preaching or teaching institution. It must be charismatic. It must manifest the gifts and fruit of the Spirit, for they are the continuing signs that Jesus is alive and ready to bless people now. "People are weary of talk about religion," he says, "whether by semi-believing intellectuals or arrogant fundamentalists, and they are especially weary of ill-natured Christians who condemn everything and everyone, including one another. But if people see the glory of the indwelling Spirit in their friends and neighbors and experience His fruit and gifts pouring out of God's people to heal the body, mind and spirit, they will be drawn to the love of Jesus, and they will indeed receive His complete healing. Jesus did good works, healings and deliverances, and these are what showed people the kingdom of God was "at hand" - that its, right here and now.

He tells us to do the same. It isn't any different today. If people see Jesus doing these things through His followers, how can they refuse to accept Him?

Evangelism brings people to receive Jesus, and then the Holy Spirit can come and live in them. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is letting the power of the Spirit flow out to bless, first of all, the individual and then the world around."

I couldn't have said it better myself...

Fear of Death

At the ripe old age of 5 years old, the concept of death hit me. My great-grandmother , whom I was very close to, died suddenly and I was devastated. When she never came back, the finality of death sunk in, and I remember crying for days. From that time on, I had a very hard time with death.

The Bible actually doesn't talk about heaven that much. Jesus said he goes to prepare a place for us, and "in my Father's house are many mansions." His word also mentions streets of gold. We know when the rich man died and was in hell, he looked over the chasm at heaven. He wanted to go tell his brothers back on earth, but was denied the request. There is a lot more said about hell in the Bible than heaven. It says there are fires there and weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus refers to the Gehenna fires, which were the garbage areas outside of town (that we now refer to as the dump) where they burned trash. We know that what happens after we die is for eternity, and there are only two places that a soul goes. It sounds pretty scary...

I've found the closer you get to God, the less scary it becomes. The more you trust God about your life now, the more you trust Him about the hereafter. We're all going to leave this earth some day. And since most Christians believe these are the end times, His children have an excellent chance at being 'raptured.' Jesus said, in the blink of an eye, His children will be snatched up to heaven as Biblical prophecy unfolds.

My concern at this point is that I won't have more time on earth to tell as many people as I can that Jesus can and will save all who desire it. I have family members, friends and acquaintances that I want to spend eternity with. I heard a pastor once say that God didn't create hell for people, but for demons. But He also could foresee the future, and knew when He gave people free will, that many will not choose Him. God is a fair and just God. He's not going to send anyone to hell that doesn't choose that path. He desires that all will repent and live.

I see heaven like a child before opening Christmas presents - with lots of good surprises by his loving parents. His word says, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard," how awesome it will be. So when the final bell rings, you can spend eternity in heaven with your loving Father - it's your choice.
Get ready.

Sing a new song to the Lord

When I was young, my mother would drop me and my siblings off for Sunday School at the mainstream Protestant church down the street. My parents were not church goers. My mother had been forced to go to her mainstream Protestant church growing up, but was turned off by the hypocrites. My father had been forced, on occasion, to go to his mainstream Protestant church, but he got nothing from it. My mother thought it was at least important to drop us off until about the age of 12. I can remember when I was about 10, the Sunday School teacher at the church down the street was saying that we all get to go to heaven, and that there was no hell. I remember calling her down about that, even back then, because that wouldn't make sense. If EVERYBODY got to go to heaven, then why not all act as bad as we wanted to. There was no incentive to do anything for God. She kind of winced, and said that she really didn't know, but that maybe there would just be a handful of REALLY bad guys there, but then went back to her stance, that there was no hell.

I've thought about that a lot over the years, and have read what God says in the Bible. If you get to know God, through reading His word and talking to Him in prayer, you will see that He is a loving God, and a JUST God. It would not be fair for everyone to go to heaven; evil people would not deserve to. It's like this: God created man and woman (Adam & Eve) and told them the only thing they couldn't do was to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good & evil. But they disobeyed. They listened and believed the serpent (satan's) lies. The punishment was for them and all of mankind. After this, man is born into sin. Satan rules this world and has since that day. So, God sent His son, Jesus, to come to earth and die on the cross for our sins, and take our punishment for us. We have to: agree we are sinners, accept His gift, and walk with Him and take up our daily cross. We will still sin, but we must confess and repent (turn from) our errors.

There are lots of arguments about the 'once saved, always saved,' but, like when I was a child, I see that that wouldn't be fair either. How does it make sense or be fair, for someone to 'accept Jesus' some time in their life, and then go on to lead a disobedient lifestyle, and still think they are going to heaven because of some decision years ago. When you study the Bible, if you get the Greek Bible, the verb in most cases is continuous. For example, the verse, "Knock, and the door shall be opened, Seek and ye shall find," is the verb translated as 'knock and keep on knocking, and seek and keep on seeking. It is continuous. It's not some one time decision as most Protestant churches have watered down salvation. They have become almost all old traditions, and no new song, no new wine.

Most 'religions' these days have lost their way, both big and small. This is why most religions in America (and throughout the world) are losing people annually. They don't preach the entire Bible. They only cherry pick the verses they want to. And they are missing the most important part, the POWER, which comes from the Holy Spirit INDWELLING in them. Many churches (certainly not all) are just concentrating on the money, and telling people what they want to hear. The Bible says in the end times, that the churches will be 'tickling our ears.' Well, we are certainly there. Many American Christian churches are phasing the name JESUS out, as some find it offensive. What?! They phased the word 'hell' out years ago, and introduced 'greasy grace,' telling all that we all can go to heaven if we SAY we are Christian. THAT'S where hypocrites come in. You cannot be a Christian in name only. His word says, 'Faith without works is dead.' But then most churches don't even read from the Bible anymore...

If you REALLY want the truth, go back to the source - the Bible. Don't accept what most of these churches are selling. Remember, the truth will set you FREE...

Maranatha!

This is Greek for Jesus is coming soon. Yes, it's been said for 2,000 years but.... all of the Biblical prophecies that were supposed to take place first, already have. (Except the building of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, but this can happen after the rapture.) It can be at any moment, or it can be in the next few years, but it is soon. Even the world is taking notice. The Mayan calendar only goes to 2012, and they just made a movie of the same name about the end of the world.

When I was young, there was little talk of Jesus coming back soon, but now? You hear it all the time in the media. It's on the cover of a current magazine, and is often on magazine covers. The Bible says it's like a woman's birth pangs getting closer and stronger with each pain. It seems that God's creation is calling out with each of these strong earthquakes of late. The political strife and division in the States. The economic uncertainty worldwide. The weather getting stranger and stranger. The spirit of the Anti-Christ rising up all over the planet with terrorism against Christians in the West. It seems like chaos is taking hold, and continues to worsen daily.
Jesus says in His word that we would not know the exact time, but that His children would know the season. I believe God keeps us faithful by not knowing the exact time. It's also why I believe He allows people to die at different ages and times, so that it keeps us diligent in our walk with Him. We never know when it's our time. We still don't, but we can sense the season.

I want to reach every person I can in the time that we have left, so they can be spared an eternity of 'weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Ezekiel 18:32 says, "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord God. "Therefore, repent and live." And in Ezekiel 18:23, "Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord God, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?"

Repent just means to turn away from. You have to confess (agree with God that you missed His mark) AND you must turn away from it and not keep doing it. It's like two young brothers that are fighting. The older keeps hitting the younger brother and says he's sorry, but then does it again. That's not repenting, that's just confessing.

So, listen to Jesus. He says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice, I will come in to dine with him, and him with Me." He will not force Himself. He's calling to all that will listen.

Come to Jesus before it's too late...

His part and your part

I don't know how people make it in this world without Jesus. I guess they depend on crutches - usually things like drugs and alcohol. They just get high to avoid thinking about it. There are so many distractions - we're bombarded with constant media - television and radio blaring non-stop. There's no time to even think until night time, when so many cannot sleep.

God is not some 'pie in the sky' ready to judge at a moment's notice. And He's not some wimp like Jesus is often portrayed. God is a spirit, so He sent His son Jesus - God with skin. He willingly died on the cross for the sins of the world. YOU'RE part is to agree with God that you sinned, because we all do. And to accept His gift of taking your punishment for you. And to then obey Him and walk with Him.

He never forces you to do anything. He has given man free will - you are free to follow Him or not. But if you do, then He will not only save you from an eternity of hell after death, but will send His comforter, the Holy Ghost, to help you in this life. He will not only be your savior, but wants to be your best friend. Jesus says this in His word. He doesn't promise that life will be easy, but He promises to be with you and help you. "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." He is still relevant in 2010! And He will set you free!

Men are men and women are women.

There is a spirit of homosexuality rising in this world. In His Word, God says that the last days will be like in the days of Noah. Contrary to popular belief, I do not believe that anyone is born a homosexual. God would not make someone born with something that would send them to hell. It is a spirit and one can be delivered from this spirit. This spirit may come on them early in life, to where they think they were born with it, but they were not. The gay lifestyle is a lonely and dangerous lifestyle, and not something God would want for His children. I've known several gay guys that I grew up with that have died from Aids, and their siblings have told me how sad and lonely the lifestyle was. God wants to deliver these men and women from this spirit and have it cast out. They can come to Jesus and He will heal them. Come to a Spirit-filled church with a deliverance ministry.
Stand on the promises of God, "By the stripes of Jesus, we were healed." And, the healing in the Bible is complete - body, mind and spirit. God can and does still heal. What a great love He has for these men and women in this lifestyle. He beckons them to, " Come to Me all who are weary, and I will give you rest." He will give them the power. He is an awesome God.

Looking for power?

This generation is obsessed with the occult - look at the Harry Potter series. The author, J.K. Rowling is now a billionaire. The world is hungry for spiritual things and they are bored with religion. But they are looking in the wrong direction - the polar wrong direction. What today's churches are missing is the POWER. It's like a recipe that's missing the most important ingredient. Look in the chapter of Acts. Jesus told them to wait for the POWER. You must get the Holy Spirit, the Holy GHOST. It comes IN you, and you speak in tongues, God's language. THEN life becomes exciting - it's what we're all really looking for.
Before I got the baptism in the Holy Spirit, I kept TRYING to live a Christian life, but I just didn't have the power and kept failing. After years of this, I knew there had to be more. That's where it's all going wrong. I was in a bad situation and kept asking God to HELP me, and give me the power to do this and I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. After that, all of my close relatives FINALLY saw a difference in me. Finally I 'walked the walk.'
If you know anything about good vs. evil, you know that satan tries to copy God things and twists them. While God comes INSIDE us with the baptism of the Holy Ghost and you speak in tongues, the devil actually can possess someone and they make gutteral noises.

I challenge you to read, really read the book of Acts in the Bible. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His gifts have not stopped.
This gift is for you too.